


The Last Dance

by Bob49



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28760112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bob49/pseuds/Bob49
Summary: Harry and Hermione agree to reserve the last dance for each other. After the fight with Ron, Harry runs after her. Year 4 HHr Christmas Fluff
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74
Collections: Christmas With Harmony 2020





	The Last Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to Proton for beta'ing. Check out his works!

The Scene: Ron and Hermione have their yelling match at the Ball instead of the Common Room, and Hermione runs off. 

_ italics=book quotes _

###  The Last Dance

_ "Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger. _

_ "Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?" _

_ "Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!” _

Harry watched as Hermione ran headlong from the hall, and he knew all too well what that meant. She was almost certainly on the verge of tears, but didn’t want anyone else to see. 

He looked at Ron, who didn’t look apologetic in the slightest, and shook his head. For now, at least, Ron was a lost cause. He had another friend to focus on, one who definitely deserved his presence after all she’d done for him this year. 

Harry ran off after her, following the sounds of the heels that she was not accustomed to wearing. He found her in the first abandoned classroom he tried, collapsed on the floor and sobbing. He sat down beside her and immediately pulled her into his arms. 

He was not prepared for her to latch onto him so tightly as her tears instantly began drenching his dress robes. Her elegant bun had unraveled already, so Harry felt no qualms about gently running his hands through her hair, whispering comforting words to her. 

Her sobs eventually began to die down, but she did not release her hold on him. 

“You know I would never fraternize with the enemy, right?” Hermione said in a small voice, continuing to hide her face in Harry’s chest. “Ron was wrong - I would never betray you.” 

Harry could not believe what he was hearing. 

“Are you serious, Hermione? Of course I trust you. There’s no one I trust more. The thought that you could betray me never once crossed my mind. I was just glad you were having fun tonight, until -” 

He hastily cut himself off, realising that he was on the verge of events of earlier again. Thankfully, it seemed that he had not accidentally hurt her, and she looked up at him with a smile before giving him a gentle squeeze. 

“Thank you, Harry. That means a lot to me, and I trust you more than anyone else, too.” She looked down suddenly at his drenched robes. “Sorry about that,” she muttered sheepishly. 

Harry looked down and laughed. “That’s ok. You’ve done so much for me. The least I can do is let you ruin my robes. Besides,” he said. “I’m a wizard, aren’t I?” 

She hit him on the shoulder but couldn’t quite stop herself from giggling. 

“Stop bringing that up! I was twelve, ok?!”

Harry laughed with her, glad that his bad joke had managed to lighten the mood. He pulled out his wand and dried his robes. Hermione held out her hand for the wand, and without hesitation, he handed it to her. She conjured a mirror and freshened herself with several charms up before returning his wand to him. Instead of putting it away, however, Harry raised it into the air and conjured a record player. Suddenly, a slow ballad began playing. Hermione turned to him and looked at him questioningly. 

“I didn’t think you’d have wanted to go back to the Great Hall, and it sucks that your night was ruined. We did promise each other the last dance, so…” 

He held out his hand. 

“May I have this dance?” 

The most brilliant smile appeared on Hermione’s face, and Harry’s knees suddenly grew weak for some reason. 

“Of course.”

They stood up and made their way to the centre of the classroom. Harry placed his hands on her waist, and Hermione placed hers on his shoulder. They started moving slowly, in sync with the music and one another. One dance turned into two, and two into three, until the songs all seemed to become blended together. They danced the night away, holding each other close. Harry could not look away from Hermione’s bright smile, and a similar smile appeared on his face as they moved together. His nervousness melted away, and unlike his lessons with McGonagall, dancing with Hermione felt fluid, almost natural. It felt…  _ right _ . It was as easy as breathing when he was doing it with her. 

When they eventually stopped dancing, they remained in a tight embrace, gently swaying to music that had long since fallen silent. 

Unbeknownst to them, something had changed between them that night, but neither minded at all. 

...

A long while later, they walked in silence back to the Common Room, each lost in their own thoughts. Their hands had gravitated towards each other’s without either realising it, and Hermione was leaning slightly on Harry after her emotionally draining night. Both were too confused by what seemed to be a fundamental change in how they saw each other to notice how natural it felt to be like this. 

The Fat Lady gave them a knowing look but said nothing before swinging open to reveal an empty Common Room. Everyone else had gone to sleep by this late hour. When they reached the bottom of the stairs to the dormitories, Hermione finally noticed their intertwined hands and she blushed furiously, but she did not pull her hand away. 

They turned and looked at each other, and Harry’s face flushed when he noticed their joined hands as well. He cleared his throat nervously, but no words came out. An awkward silence ensued as neither seemed willing to bring up the elephant in the room. 

“Oh, honestly!”

Hermione released his hand and threw her arms around him, hugging him as tightly as she could. 

“Thank you for a wonderful night, Harry. Merry Christmas!”

She was about to pull away when she suddenly found herself enveloped by his arms in return. 

“Merry Christmas, Hermione.”

A few moments later, Harry let her go, and Hermione released him as well, though a little reluctantly. Harry stood there awkwardly as he nervously ran his hands through his hair. 

“I guess we better head up then?” He asked, reluctance written all over his face. 

Hermione wrung her hands, a nervous expression on her face. 

“Yeah. It’s past curfew. We don’t want detention on Christmas.” 

She looked up at Harry’s face, and suddenly, a sad expression came over her face. Before Harry could ponder what Hermione was thinking, however, she threw her arms around his neck and, to his great surprise, planted a kiss on his cheek. 

Her face bright red, Hermione squeaked out, “Good night, Harry!” before turning around and dashing up the stairs. 

Harry stood rooted in place, his hand on his cheek, watching as she climbed away. The night may not have started all that well, but he thought that by its end, it may have become the best night of his life. 

“Good night, Hermione.” He whispered to the empty room. 

Hours later, as he laid in bed, his hand still subconsciously drifted to the spot on his cheek where Hermione had kissed him. He thought that he could still feel her lips. When he finally fell asleep, he bore a satisfied smile on his face, thinking that, maybe, this wouldn’t be such a bad year after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry (Late) Christmas! Check out the HMS Harmony disc here: https://discord.gg/2GcXw8R


End file.
